SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – A Colombian suspect in the murder of a Paraguayan prosecutor last year was arrested in El Salvador and will be handed over to Colombian authorities, El Salvador’s government said on Wednesday.
Margaret Chacon is accused of being involved in the assassination of Paraguayan organized crime prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, who was shot dead on May 10 last year on the island of Baru near Cartagena, Colombia, while on honeymoon.
Chacon arrived in El Salvador on May 26 and has since traveled to several Latin American countries, returning regularly to the capital of San Salvador, Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Security Gustavo Villatoro said.
Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Chacon on Monday. She will be handed over to Colombian authorities later on Wednesday, Villatoro said.
Officials also arrested a Salvadoran national accused of helping Chacon hide in the country.
Colombian investigators, with support from the United States and Paraguay, are seeking to establish who masterminded the murder, which could be a transnational criminal organization, according to preliminary findings.
Two other people authorities say are suspected of planning, paying and hiring Pecci’s murderers were captured in Colombia on Sunday. Four others accused of involvement in the murder were jailed in June.
(Reporting by Nelson Renteria, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
